Martin has stressed the importance of the club staying in the Premier League under Slaven Bilic’s guidance, but feels the club can progress even if they finish lower than 12th with fewer than 47 points on the board.

“If he doesn’t and we finish in the same position as under Sam, it doesn’t mean we haven’t moved forward as a club – What he’s got to do is keep us in the Premier League next year, keep us in the top half,” he told talkSPORT.

“We don’t know what the impact of Slaven’s arrival is going to be until the season starts – I’d rather he was just coming in and had a real good run at the Premier League.”

What should West Ham be aiming for?

Martin told talkSPORT that he’d like to see the Hammers in the top half of the table, which is by no means an unrealistic aim.

West Ham have a good quality squad, a new manager and owners who seem keen to back him in the transfer market.

Bilic has already made a good signing with the arrival of Pedro Obiang and he’ll be full of ideas over players he can bring in, who should help the club progress further.

How can the club progress despite finishing lower?

Bilic could choose to focus on area of the club like the youth ranks, giving younger players more of a chance than they were getting under Sam Allardyce.

Lewis Doe

Lewis Doe is a freelance writer and editor who seeks to bring you the biggest, smallest and most interesting stories from the football world. Lewis has previously written for some of the biggest football news and opinion sites in the world including FootballFanCast and Goal.com International. Lewis is also experienced writing in the betting industry and aims to deliver his stories with up to date factual and statistical information. He hopes to sum up stories for the site and provide an angle on the issue moving forward.Lewis is HITC Sport's La Liga correspondent.